by Mark Mathews
Crying, Emily flung herself into the woman’s arms. Sarah immediately folded her into the safety of a hug and held on to her, her own tears mixing with Emily’s hair. She’d been so afraid when the shooting started and she’d realized that Emily wasn’t in the paddy wagon. She had no idea Emily had felt useless, like she wasn’t pulling her own weight. The child had tried to do something to help them survive when she’d gone for water, and she’d been frightened all over again by the shots. Sarah had started thinking about what life would be like without the bright little light that was Emily. She just couldn’t imagine it. The two of them stayed hidden in Emily’s spot, Sarah shooting anyone who looked as though they might even be considering the rock as a hiding place.
Wade went over to where Sarah’s tracks led away from the fight. His shoulder screamed at the slightest movement, but he couldn’t take the time to assess his injury right now. Blood flowed freely and he felt the warm stickiness as it dripped down his chest. His vision was starting to get a little fuzzy on the edges but he kept going. There. A perfect footprint from her boot. He knew by now what they looked like, but the ground was so hard and dry, he’d been afraid he wouldn’t be able to find anything. Luckily, there was a puddle of blood that Sarah had stepped through, and it gave him a perfect boot print, showing him in which direction she had gone. He started looking around, and found a large boulder not that far in front of him.
“Sarah! Where are you?” He started yelling to her because he wasn’t sure he’d be able to use just his eyes to find her.
He was feeling really weak already, and they still had to make it back to the paddy wagon. He groaned at the thought. Sarah heard her name and recognized Wade’s voice. Her heart jumped. He was okay! She’d just started thinking about going to find him now that she had Emily, but she didn’t want to leave the little girl here alone again. She also didn’t think it would be safe to drag her through the newest chunk of the apocalypse. Hearing his voice helped to solve the dilemma, because it meant she could just shout at him and have him find them. She stood up warily from behind the boulder, looking all around her for anyone who might be looking for something to shoot. The coast seemed clear. Standing up the rest of the way, she started waving.
“Over here! I found her!” A huge weight fell from Wade’s shoulders when he not only heard Sarah’s voice, but what she had said.
She had found Emily, and both of them were okay. Her voice hadn’t been pained or panicked, so he proceeded with a real smile on his face. He ducked behind the boulder and went to sit down, but misjudged the distance to the ground, landing unceremoniously in a messy heap. Sarah just stared at him. He’d been nothing but graceful ever since she’d met him. She turned to look at him and started examining every inch of his body. The hole in his shirt caught her attention, and the dark, thick blood pouring out of it wrenched her heart. If they had had some electricity and doctors, he would be okay. Since they didn’t, she had no idea if Wade was going to make it. She didn’t want to hurt him any more than he already was, but she wanted to move him somewhere safe.
“I’m so glad that you girls are safe.” He wanted to say more, but he couldn’t. The words already were coming out hoarsely, and he didn’t know how long he had left.
“I’m going to go get the paddy wagon. Emily, stay here with him and protect him. I’ll come back.” Sarah swallowed hard.
She was afraid for Wade, but she couldn’t move him. It would kill him to take him to the paddy wagon, so the only other option they had left was this. Emily could shoot straight and the panic was gone now. There was an eerie silence all around Sarah as she slipped from their hiding spot. She still had the keys, and she was going to bring that paddy wagon back to protect Wade if it was the last thing she did. Smoke billowed along the ground, and she could see that some of the tents had been lit on fire. She did her best to wind her way through the maze, and she kept her eyes moving. If she let them settle for too long, she would see things that would make her sick. There was a little doll, burned, and a small hand reaching out for it. A small hand that didn’t move. Tears welled in her eyes, and she tried brushing them away.
A sense of peace stole over Sarah, and a realization began to sink in for her. The reason everyone had been drawn here was to come to a confrontation. A conflict that would be the beginning of the new world. Some primal god had decided the world had gotten out of hand, and so he had wrecked the technology to set them back to the basics. Then he’d sent subconscious messages to get everyone to one point. At that point, the battle for the world would begin. There were two sides to every battle, and in this case, they were good and evil. Seeing the bodies littered around her, it was hard to make out which side had won. Sarah felt at ease, and something told her that good had triumphed. She couldn’t help the wry smile that spread over her face. It was almost like a video game. Good vs. Evil. The sense of general well-being that washed over her told her that this time, good had won. For how long, she had no idea.
As she kept walking, lost in her thoughts, she came upon the shadow of the paddy wagon. She checked all the doors and windows. Everything was locked, and nothing had been broken. That meant their supplies were safe. Good. She’d need most of the medical supplies just to patch up Wade, and they didn’t have that much left. His last injury took up the majority of what they had, and they hadn’t been able to pick up any more. He hadn’t looked so good.
Wade. The thought of him lying there in his own blood spurred her on. She unlocked the door and jumped in. She fired up the engine, doing her best to drive away from any and all bodies, because she couldn’t tell who was dead and who was just hurt. She ran over a few broken weapons and supplies, shredded tents and smashed coolers, and it almost felt like a vacation gone wrong. If Sarah just could wake up and let it be a vacation that had gone wrong, she would give anything she had, but she knew that was only wishful thinking. She managed to maneuver the paddy wagon over to the rock. She backed it up so she could open the doors and Wade wouldn’t have as far to go. He was going to lie down in the back with the supplies. She grabbed some blankets she’d found nearby and made a makeshift bed out of them. She took Wade under his good arm and helped him into it. He bit down on a scream as he settled in. Sarah’s heart ached.
“Emily, go ahead and get up front. I’m going to need you to navigate for me.” The little girl took off, looking guiltily relieved that she could get out of the situation.
“It’s going to be okay. I’m going to take care of you and you’re going to be fine.” Sarah went to work, cleaning and bandaging, do whatever she could to help him. After the first few minutes of her trying to clean his wound, Wade thankfully passed out from the pain. She kept ministering to him until she thought there was nothing else she could do. Then she kissed his forehead gently, covering him up and closing the doors. She crawled up into the driver’s side.
“Is he going to be okay?” Sarah swallowed hard. She didn’t want to lie to the little girl, but she didn’t want to say she believed that it was touch and go right now. She sighed heavily.
“I’m not sure, honey. I’ll do whatever I can to save him, but right now, I just don’t know.” Silence lingered in the paddy wagon while Sarah turned the key. The engine sputtered to life, and Sarah reached over, handing Emily a map.
“Okay, now let’s go find ourselves a safe place to live. Direct me, Christopher Columbus.”
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